Philly Leader

Acquired by the Flyers from the Anaheim Ducks on January 8, 2024, defenseman Jamie Drysdale's primary goal for the 2024-25 season is to maintain his health. Drysdale has the potential to become a high-level offensive defenseman in the National Hockey League and is still adjusting early in his career.

When healthy, the 22-year-old exhibits above-average mobility along with strong puck skills. Selected sixth overall by the Ducks in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Drysdale has shown glimpses of becoming an impactful player if he reaches his offensive ceiling.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the Ontario Hockey League's entire 2020-21 season. Consequently, an 18-year-old Drysdale played professional hockey—24 games in the NHL with Anaheim and 28 games in the American Hockey League with the San Diego Gulls—during what would have been his Draft-plus-one season in the OHL.

The following year, Drysdale began to demonstrate his promise at the NHL level. Although Anaheim struggled as a team and Drysdale needed to improve defensively and overall consistency, he posted a promising 32-point season (4 goals, 28 assists) while playing in 81 of 82 games as a 19-year-old.

However, significant injuries have plagued him over the last two seasons. Left shoulder surgery limited him to just eight games in 2022-23.

In this past campaign, even before joining Philadelphia, Drysdale dealt with a core muscle issue that affected his skating. He also sustained another left shoulder injury from an open-ice hit during a game against Pittsburgh but returned for the latter part of the season.

"I've technically been in the League for four years, but I always say I've only played about a year and a half," Drysdale told NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. "Just playing a full year, showing what I can do, what I know I can do—I think that kind of went under wraps these last couple years."

The defensive systems employed by Anaheim and Philadelphia differ significantly. Under John Tortorella and Brad Shaw, Philadelphia uses zone defense while Anaheim employed man-to-man coverage. Tortorella acknowledged that adjusting would take time for Drysdale when he first joined Philadelphia and emphasized that learning how best to utilize his natural abilities on offense remains ongoing.

"I just don’t think he’s up the ice enough offensively," Tortorella said when Philadelphia acquired Drysdale. "I want him to go more. He’s a candidate to be like a rover—not just a defenseman but someone who roves around due to his skating ability."

In his debut for Philadelphia on January 10, Drysdale assisted Morgan Frost on a power play goal during a shootout win over Montreal Canadiens. On January 23rd—his sixth game as a Flyer—Drysdale scored his first goal for Philadelphia with Frost providing an assist again. Another power play goal followed against Arizona Coyotes (now Utah Hockey Club) on February 12th. Of his five points in 24 games with Philly last season—all involved Frost (three), Travis Konecny (two), or Owen Tippett (one).

The NHL has recently placed greater emphasis on size among defensemen and centers; however, Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere believes that despite being smaller at 5-foot-11 and weighing 185 pounds it should not hinder Drysdale's performance.

"The keys with Jamie are his feet, stickwork ,and intelligence," Briere stated."He still has things to learn—but he's got significant potential—a tremendous young man eager both help himself succeed alongside helping Flyers succeed."

Off-the-ice chemistry was not an issue for Jamie within Flyers' locker room environment according their player dynamics right from outset seamlessly integrated into team culture:

"This is just an awesome group guys—a great room,” remarked Dryer during 'Flyers Daily.' “Everyone made me feel welcomed from day one—it’s very tight-knit team fans here are fantastic—they care deeply—which means lot ."

While disappointed about missing playoffs narrowly missing final night—the cohesive spirit remained intact throughout challenging season .

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